JUST A LITTLE BIT OF LOVE (A Kito Story)
Last year, I was kitoed.
I had just turned eighteen, and a week after my birthday in April, I arranged to meet up with a guy I met on Grindr who went by the name ‘I Have It Big’. And I think that is the most embarrassing part of this story, not the kito – that I was kitoed by a person whose moniker is ‘I Have It Big’. I did not even get to confirm this statement, because I of course did not get to see his penis.
2019 was the year I discovered sex. Fresh into the university, living away from home, mostly free to do as I pleased, I finally thrust myself into the harsh and unloving ecosystem of Grindr, and one of the first things I discovered was that I was ugly and unfuckable. Imagine the shock I felt, as I had always thought I looked okay. But Grindr told me NO, as I was getting blocked left, right and centre, whenever I sent potential hookups my selzy photos. My self esteem was in the gutter (in some ways, it still is), but all of this was after my first hookup, which I scored surprisingly easily. My disvirgining awoke in me a ravaging desire for sex and I did not have the discipline to tame it. So imagine my horror when I discovered that my uncontrollable urge for sex would not be sated because all the reasonable-looking people on Grindr that knew how to type proper English did not want to fuck me. I had to do something about it, and so I settled for scary, unkempt men with severe mouth odour who had sex with me on the floor while rats ran round us (I’m not even joking).
You can then understand the immense gratitude I felt when, after sending ‘I Have It Big’ my photo, he not only didn’t block me but the picture he sent to me in response contained the image of a handsome, dark-skinned man with rippling muscles and chiseled, well defined features.
Heu! O bago! No way was I not fucking this one!
I overlooked his terrible grammar, his pushiness, his reluctance to relay basic information about him, his WhatsApp picture that showed a different person from the one he sent on Grindr – and I agreed to meet him at 7pm at his place somewhere around Alaba.
I fasted, I douched, I oiled, I smelt nice, I looked good, and I packed clothes for the next morning. I was ready. At 5:30, I left Yabatech, boarded a bus to Orile and stopped at Shoprite to re-douche, re-oil, relook good and re-smell nice. I eventually got to Alaba (Suru, I think), where I called him to come pick me up. He instructed that I cross over and walk down to a certain bank where I was to wait a short while for him to arrive. By then, it was quite dark and since I have terrible, really terrible eyesight, crossing that main road was like a suicide mission. But I did it. I got to the bank and waited for him, and about ten minutes later, he called me and directed me to walk towards his direction. I set my eyes to night mode and began scanning the stream of pedestrians milling about me for my dark-skinned hunk.
The person I however caught waving me forward was not the person from the picture ‘I Have It Big’ sent. This one looked like he had it small. Literally! He was short, at least two heads shorter than me, and he was light-skinned. He also did not have rippling muscles.
“You’re not the person from the picture,” I said tentatively, careful not to let my budding annoyance and disappointment seep into my voice.
He replied, “I don’t like using my real picture on Grindr.”
I took a closer look at him and realized that despite the fact that I had been catfished, my catfisher was actually quite nice looking. He was no ‘I Have It Big’, but at least he had it. There was a burgeoning fear of kito in my mind, but I pushed it aside as the konji hunger overwhelmed all common sense.
And so, I asked, “Which way to your place?”
He explained to me that his place was suddenly unavailable as his sister had popped in out of the blue to visit a friend who lived nearby, and that she was sleeping over. So we’d have to lodge into a hotel.
“Are you scared?” he asked me.
Embarrassed that my face had probably exposed my skepticism, I quickly replied in the negative. I wasn’t really scared in fact, because my reasoning was that a hotel was actually going to be a much safer alternative, seeing as we would be in a publicly-owned space and he would not be able to orchestrate anything fishy.
And so, we began the hunt for hotels. As he led me through the streets of Suru, Alaba, we talked about where we were from, our villages, our languages. He told me he worked as a lawyer’s assistant and divided his time between Lagos and Imo State. We berated the Goodluck Jonathan regime for criminalizing homosexuality and ironically castigated kito scum that were ravaging the queer community in the Orile- Mile 2- Festac axis. Essentially he made me feel safe with him.
We arrived at the first hotel where loud thumping music was playing and he said I should wait outside while he checked out the place. I acquiesced. A while later, he returned and told me the rooms were too shitty for the price they were calling and that we should go check out somewhere else. We walked a little further before stumbling upon another hotel; this one was a bit quieter than the last. In the reception, I sat down while he spoke to the receptionists and then he told me to wait while he goes to check out the room. We had walked a considerable distance, so I was all too happy to relass and be taken kiaroff. From my seat, I watched as a hotel staff, male, led him up the stairs. He returned a while later and affirmed that the room was okay, and as we walked up the stairs to the room, he loudly berated the receptionists and the hotel for not giving receipts after payment. On getting to the first floor, the man who’d previously led him to check out the room was waiting for us, and he effusively greeted me and welcomed us to the hotel.
Finally we were alone and I was ready for hot steamy sex. I pretended to be paying attention to the Big Brother Naija show that was happening on the TV while I waited for him to initiate the sex.
“Aren’t you going to bathe first?” he suggested.
I agreed. It was a good idea, seeing as we’d done a bit of walking. As I took off my clothes, he handed me a towel and said he’d go in after me. I went into the bathroom and I proceeded to scrub myself clean. The bathroom was dark because the bulb did not work, and the water was cold because there was no heater, and my only source of warmth was the hot steamy sex that I was imagining would soon go down.
Little did I know what was already happening outside the bathroom.
After my bath, I put on my boxers and made to go back into the bedroom, but when I pushed the door, it did not open. I pushed it again and it did not budge.
Was it stuck?
I pushed again. Nothing.
Ah-ah, I thought. Which kain wahala be this?
I pushed and pulled and pushed and pulled, to no avail. I decided it was stuck. At this point, I knew I had to call out to ‘I Have It Big’ to come to my rescue, but I was a bit embarrassed at the prospect of him rescuing me from a faulty door, so I gave it a few more tries. But the door still wouldn’t budge. We were not about to have telepathic sex, so I swallowed what little pride I had and began to call out to ‘I Have It Big’. I could not remember his name, so I alternated between calling out “Hey” and “Hello”. He did not come.
Could he not hear me? Because I sure could hear Tacha shouting at another housemate and maybe that bitch was drowning out my voice. I hey-ed and hello-ed, and hit the door and pushed the door and shouted a bunch of Igbo names: “Ifeanyi…” “Kelechi…” “Emeka…”
But ‘I Have It Big’ did not come. It began to dawn on me what had happened – that I had bene locked in, that I had been kitoed – but I refused to accept the truth. I stayed steadfast on the thought that the door was just stuck. That the TV was too loud and that was why he couldn’t hear me. He’d probably just stepped out to get drinks.
I resumed pushing door with increasing force, careful not to slip on the wet floor, hoping each thrust would be the final one that’d set me free and into the arms of my potential lover. But it was an exercise in futility. I was locked in. Panic began to rise in my chest, in my heart, in my head. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think.
No, I could think. But only about the multiple terrible ways this could end. Konji was no longer blocking my brain and thus began an influx of all the kito stories I’d heard of gay men being beaten, robbed, raped, stripped naked and recorded. I was sure the same thing was about to happen to me. I was sure that Ifeanyi or Kelechi or Emeka had gone for reinforcements and was on his way back to destroy my life. Certainly by tomorrow, everyone would know I’m gay; my family, my few friends, my coursemates. My story would end up on a blog and my life would be over. I could see the bright lights of traffic on the road through the bathroom window, and at some point, I heard a police siren and I was certain they were coming to take me.
With my back to the wall, I slid down to the wet floor (like I’d seen in movies) and I tried to cry, but I could not. I just felt so utterly and completely stupid, and there was no space left in me to even feel sorry for myself. I could still hear Tacha fighting with one of the housemates when I got up from the floor and decided that I had to break down the door. I held onto a sliver of hope that the door was simply just stuck and that ‘I Have It Big’ had simply just stepped out, but I was not about to wait for someone to come find me. I was going to have to huff and puff my way out of this bitch of a situation.
So, I took position at the farthest end of the bathroom from the door and I charged at the door, hitting it hard with my right shoulder.
Nothing.
I did it again and again and again. Charge, hit. Charge, hit. I slipped and fell. Got up. Charge, hit. My body hurt but I did not care. Charge, hit. The top hinge began to come off. I focused all my energy on that area and I pushed and pushed till the hinge came off making the top right edge of the door bend out into the room, giving me leeway to climb through. With my hands on the top edge, I pulled my body up through the newly created space and onto that top edge, such that my head was almost grazing the ceiling, and then I jumped down into the room.
It was empty.
I rushed to the bed where I immediately noticed that my bag, which contained a little cash, my identification, my glasses, change of clothes and school notes, was gone, and my iPhone 6 which I had left on the bed had disappeared. I grabbed the clothes that I took off to take my bath and fished into my trouser pocket for cash. I found nothing.
Oh wait, there was something – my ATM card. It was still there. He hadn’t taken it.
Slightly relieved, I sharply threw on my clothes, my shoes and made for my glasses before remembering that I didn’t have them anymore. How was I supposed to make it out of this place if I could barely see? I dashed out of the room, into the hallway and down the stairs with quivering limbs, bruised body, a rapidly beating heart and blurry sight. Past the receptionists who I did not spare a glance, out the reception that had prostitutes standing at the entrance and calling out to potential customers, me included – “Fine boy. You wan fuck?” At least somebody wanted to fuck me – and out the hotel gates where I finally let out a sigh of relief.
But I was not safe yet. For all I knew, ‘I Have It Big’ might be lurking in the environs or on his way back with reinforcements. So I had to get out of here ASAP. But I did not have any cash, save for the 1k in my account. I narrowed my eyes and scanned the vicinity for any banks in sight, and on finding none, I decided to flag down an okada; the okada man would know what to do. As the man I flagged down came to a stop, I rushed over to him and explained that I had been robbed of my belongings not too far from here and urgently needed to get to an ATM so I could withdraw money to go home. The okada man felt immense pity for me. I could tell from the amalgam of sadness and anger that was splayed across his face, and it was not hard to see why: I was a quivering nervous wreck. He drove me to a bank where a long queue snaked out the ATM booth and told me that he would wait for me. I told him not to bother, that the line was way too long.
“No worry, I go wait,” he said reassuringly.
I thanked him and dashed to the queue. As I waited my turn, I kept staring at the bank gate, certain that ‘I Have It Big’ would bust through it at any moment; that he would have gone back to the hotel and when he did not find me where he left me, would search the surroundings until he found me.
He did not.
I withdrew my last 1k, ran out the bank and hopped onto the back of the okada.
“You collect am?” he asked.
When I replied in the affirmative, he revved his engine and we zoomed off. As we weaved through the streets and then out onto the express road where vehicles flashed this way and that at breakneck speed, some with headlights bright enough to blind, I wondered how I would have made it home in my disoriented state. Surely I would have been carpeted by a car if I had tried to cross that Mile 2 Express by myself. The okada man dropped me off at First Gate, and after I paid him, he told me to be careful and that he was sorry about what happened to me, before zooming off into the distance: my knight on shinning Yamaha.
I eventually got home, and the first thing I did, after mumbling a response to the barrage of questions regarding my reason for showing up at home by 11pm, was disable my Apple ID on my stolen iPhone 6. After that, I logged onto Kito Diaries where I read other kito stories, and then, I cried myself to sleep.
It’s been roughly a year since it happened and I have not told anyone about it, mostly because I have no one to tell and partly because I’d always felt utterly embarrassed about the whole thing. How could I not have seen the signs? How could I have been so utterly careless and stupid?
But I am starting to see that kito for what it truly was: a blessing. Because if this relatively mild kito had not happened to me, surely with the way I was going, I’d have been embroiled in something much worse. Since the incident, I’d had to wean myself entirely off Grindr, which is good seeing as I was on the verge of addiction, and my mental health is all the better for it. I no longer have that sick feeling at the pit of my stomach that I used to have when I used the Yellow App. I’ve also been mostly celibate and feel so much safer, as there is no niggling fear of STD.
I like to think that God tried to warn me about what I was getting myself into, because before I went for that hookup, on my way to the bus park, an old friend of mine whom I had not spoken to in a long time suddenly called me out of blue and insisted on seeing me, as he was alone in my school and needed someone to keep him company. I told him I had somewhere important to be, but he was insistent, so much so that for a split second, I wondered if it was a sign of the risk I was taking by going for the hookup. But of course, konji is king, and so I brushed my suspicion aside and reiterated that I had somewhere to be. I should have listened to my instincts – and I think this is something that has been said multiple times on here; that if it smells like shit, then it probably is. And shit really does happen.
I wish I had more information to divulge about ‘I Have It Big’, more on his real identity, but I cannot even remember the (most likely made-up) name he gave me – Ifeanyi? Emeka? Kelechi?
All I can say is: do not allow the quest to satisfy your konji block your brain like it did mine. Just masturbate and move on with your life. Las, las, we go dey alright.
Written by Geminiguy
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34 Comments
Mandy
July 15, 08:45?????????
Pardon me for laughing but this, the way you told this story was hilarious as fuck.
I’m glad it was mild though. my heart was pounding as I read, thinking about the massive kito you were slowly walking your way toward. Thank god all you did was just feed a hungry and lazy Nigerian youth.
Eclectic
July 15, 14:03Lol. You are not the only one that laughed o. The narrative is so funny, the I have it big offed me. Thank goodness you were not physically attacked. After kito experience, you’d become suspicious about everyone.
geminiguy
July 15, 16:46Honestly if it was worse than this, I don’t know what I would have done. Thank you
The sympathizer
July 20, 13:14Thank God for your life, I have not heard any Kito experience apart from the day I fucked a girl in my neighborhood during our little days and I was caught by my parents lol
but I dare not visit any guy, after all, it seems absurd for a top to take the trip
Zoar
July 20, 15:31“……..after all, it seems absurd for a top to take the trip”
Hope you’re joking with the last line right? Because if you ain’t then you just sounded narcissistic.
Anyone that can host Should host while the other visits. Roles ain’t supposed to be attached to who goes visiting Bro.
And so you know. I’m also a Top?.
Liam
July 15, 09:18The truth is there is always that nudge to go back,at least on my end for every first time hook up I’m doing,no matter how many of the ‘not kito confirmation boxes’ he has ticked. Most times I feel it has stopped me from meeting or having most of the experiences I should have.in all it’s best to be safe that hold on to and unknown and insecure fantasy of a good time. Lol I can remember one time I was supposed to meet up with a potential hookup who I’ve chatted with for a while and we arranged that we were going to see in order to talk in a public place as suggested by me, on my way I told the tricycle man where I was going to stop since I didn’t know the place, and I kept reminding him,and he carried past the place as he claimed he forgot and as they always fo when he remembered he claimed that it was a stone throw away, that I could walk back to in no time…. I saw it as sign no 1 and as I was walking back I called the guy to explain and ask how I’d locate where he is and he answered in a different tone from the usual way he used to sound, I saw it as sign no 2, and still on my way walking back it suddenly began to rain and I saw it as sign no 3….. The way I asked from a passer by how to get to the nearest bus stop to go back home, Biko…… When I got home and thought about it I just couldn’t stop laughing on what I was thinking with rain falling being a reason someone could have kitoed me,but who knows, maybe I was right, or maybe I wasn’t but so long as I got home with my mind and belongings intact,it didn’t matter again……
geminiguy
July 15, 16:49I feel the same way as well; better to be safe than sorry.
Lopez
July 15, 09:18You’re 18, forgive yourself and move on. The things we as community members do to one another… We want acceptance but can’t even accept our own for flimsy reasons like looks and being fem. Your closing sentence said it all.
geminiguy
July 15, 16:53Thank you. I’ve done both of those things. And you’re absolutely right about the discrimination. Its quite sad
Flexsterous
July 16, 09:59You think its flimsy to want to have sex with someone you’re actually attracted to? Ok.
Jinchuriki
July 15, 09:40This was funny but sad also. I’m sorry you had to deal with that and I hope you heal completely.
“Do not allow the quest of satisfying your konji block your brain”… Lol. ,90 percent of the males where I work are sexy af and come in different sizes and shapes. Being sex starved has me constantly staring at the men at work, and one girl (Thank God she’s an ally) already figured out I’m not straight, she’s caught me staring way too many times and has seen a conversation I had with someone on Instagram.
May the God that shields people from kito, shield me too!
Madama
January 20, 15:52LMAOOOOO
Omo
you are not the only one o, i stare too much
ken
July 15, 11:29Hear hear!
God gave you two hands for a reason. Masturbation saves u a lot of problems lol
Konji on the other hand is the devils device, especially for the young ones.
slender
July 15, 13:32a funny-sad story, so sorry you had to go through that.
geminiguy
July 15, 16:57Thank you.
geminiguy
July 15, 16:58Thank you
Black Coffee
July 15, 13:43This was sha hilarious. Thank God you were safe.
The things we did as teenagers though. God knows in my first year in the university I wasn’t careful at all.
Oh, the ransom hookups and shag ehn. . . Person eye don clear now sha.
geminiguy
July 15, 16:56Person eye don clear fr. Safety is paramount.
Zoar
July 15, 14:06I was feeling sorry for you until I got to the point where you called our Brekete Queen Tacha a Bitch?????
How dare you?
Sorry but no sorry. I’m sure you must have gotten your sorry from your Highlight *Bitch* (2 can actually play the game you know. Pun intended)
Please state your Kito Experiences or Gay stories and leave Tacha out of your mouth next time please.
geminiguy
July 15, 16:55Lool I didn’t mean it like that tho. I was just trying to relate how I felt in the moment.
Zoar
July 15, 17:21Lol I was actually Joking and cruising along with you.
But sorry. Atleast your experience was mild compared to other Experiences.
Just always go with your instincts as I always do. You’ll be okay Bro ?.
Peace
July 15, 23:47for some minutes I found myself inside the bathroom screaming inaudibly and hoping you break free. I don’t even want to Imagine what could have happened if you weren’t able to crawl out. Phew….. like everyone I’m most glad you’re okay and better now. Okwa you see this Kito of a thing we shouldn’t get tired of creating more awareness about it and teaching everyone to trust their instincts……
geminiguy
July 17, 11:54Thanks a lot Peace. We should definitely create more awareness. A friend whom I recently met didn’t even know about KD and sadly he got kitoed as well and his was much worse than mine.
julian_woodhouse
July 16, 08:21My knight on shining Yamaha ???…. I nearly died at this. I haven’t seen you but at least from the little I’ve read, I can defs say you have a beautiful mind and you’d find someone that loves you for it.
I’m so glad it didn’t deteriorate into something worse.
.
.
On another note, the first guy I fell in love with and the first guy I had sex with, both were light skinned and both were packing yam tubers. We need to decampaign this light skinned guys trope??.
geminiguy
July 17, 11:46Thanks for the kind words Julian. Also i’m not decampaigning anything please? im also lightskinned.
Rudy
July 16, 11:24Sigh! You pushing, pulling and smacking on the door with your shoulder must have been a nerve crippling experience.
I cannot even measure the ounce of confidence you had to accumulate to be able to set yourself free from that tiny dark stall of a bathroom.
This could have easily triggered a panic attack (Claustrophobia-ish) in you and I’m glad you saw the bigger picture and bailed with all the strength you could tap inside of you.
You’re still young but wiser now.
Perhaps that was the reason for this terrible experience, for you to re-evaluate and value yourself and not merely seeing yourself through the lens of others.
geminiguy
July 17, 11:43Thank you Rudy. I was pretty claustrophobic for a week after and I had panic attacks in bathrooms. I’m alright now and you’re absolutely right, im much wiser now and I see myself differently.
trystham
July 16, 12:25Looool. Alaba sha. Thassau somebody was chatting me up over 2go yesterday telling me he stays in Ojo, and he wasn’t KITO knowing the bad reputation blah blah and we could meet somewhere neutral.
When baba saw I was only loling, he jejely removed himself
Peter C
July 16, 17:13Omg??, it was like as if my kito story was written for me by you…same area,orile, a hotel was payed for, a fair short guy,easy to the eyes,accommodating,the same experience only that there was sex between us..he took everything I had with me and vamosed, came out from the bathroom and found only my atm card in my Jean trouser. This happened 2 yrs ago. I don’t really know how to write like Gemini guy…but I can relate to his story.
geminiguy
July 17, 11:38God! Are you sure it’s not the same guy. Short and fair and slim. I did not talk to the prostitutes though, I just walked out. Also I doubt the okada man was part tho, wouldnt make much sense and i’m pretty sure the plot was not that elaborate. I’m pretty sure the hotel people were involved.
Peter C
July 16, 17:18And yes the prostitutes were there to listen to how you were robbed,you told them a different story because you couldn’t tell them of why you were at the hotel to fuck another man…and a bike man waiting to take you to the bank to withdraw your last card…(this is the same story) seeing this I think it’s a syndicate thing, the receptionist, the call girls and the bike man could be part of this conspiracy. How can your experience be same thing as mine.
Rehoboth
July 17, 08:24Always be on your guard at all times.
Organic hookup/referral still the best.
Ade
July 18, 08:54Trouble brings experience and experience brings wisdom, wherever an ass falls, there will he never fall again, u ignored d signs and didn’t follow your instincts..but thank Goodness you fine now…E be things…MOVE ON…
Jinchuriki
September 04, 00:53Your experience is heartbreaking and I wouldn’t wish that on some enemies.
I’ve never been kitoed, but I did have a life altering experience before adulthood and I can promise you there will be PTSD. It might not get easy to meet people for a bit, but having other LGBTQ friends can help make that less impossible. You can try reaching out to those friends to see if they know the person you intend to meet (but you still have to be careful and in the end it’s your judgment that matters most, because said friend can decide to use you as a Guinea pig to see if someone else is safe).
I’d also advice agains having NSA sex with people, especially people from Grindr.
And ugh! Bad Grammar just nerfs whatever interest I have in the existence of the person I’m trying to converse with.